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CNN
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What was your most thrilling first date? In 2016, two young Russians became famous for their extreme rooftop adventure. Sagrada Familia and the Eiffel Tower, skipping the perfunctory happy hour cocktails and instead climbing China’s tallest unfinished skyscraper, the 1,957-foot-tall Goldin Finance 117.
At the time, Ivan Biakas and Angela Nicolaou never expected they’d end up together. Biakas invited Nicolaou, a rare female member of the rooftopping community (she’d climbed and broken glass walls), to climb with him to create a sponsored social media post. But it was the start of a long-lasting romantic and creative partnership that would see the two travel thousands of miles and thousands of feet in elevation together.
Eight years later, the documentary film “Skywalker Love Story“The Strangers” intimately depicts their unusual romance through hundreds of hours of footage, including some heartbreaking POV shots from impossible heights and the occasional run-in with police.
Provided by: Netflix
Nicolaou is the first big female rooftopper and caught the eye of Biakas, who was looking for a social media content partner.
Like any couple, Bierkus and Nikolau have their ups and downs, and when they do argue, it gets a little more dangerous than most. (In one scene, Bierkus bravely berates his girlfriend for being “too negative” while she’s literally performing a dangerous acrobatic pose high in the clouds.) Through the pair’s unusual lifestyle, The Skywalker Chronicles becomes a meditation on trust and commitment, but if you love stunts, their stunts will get you on the edge of your seat.
Directed by rooftop-climbing filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist and co-directed by Maria Bukonina, “Skywalkers,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is now streaming on Netflix, follows the couple as they navigate their budding relationship with increasingly difficult challenges, drawing on Nikolau’s background as a trained gymnast to perform acrobatic stunts on narrow ledges, poles and scaffolding.
Provided by: Netflix
The couple was briefly arrested in Paris and also attracted police attention in Kuala Lumpur.
“Not only is there a fear of falling from a height, but also a fear of falling in love,” Zimbalist told CNN in a video call. “At first, Angela said they were competitors and rivals, but there was this romantic feeling going on beneath the surface.”
As the documentary progresses, the pair plan their most challenging climb yet: in Kuala Lumpur. Merdeka 118is the second tallest building in the world. Opened earlier this year, the gleaming 2,227-foot-tall tower is crowned by a 527-foot-tall spire, the top of which can only be reached by a narrow interior ladder.
When Beerkus and Nicolaou made their plans in 2022, the “super-tall” building was already finished but still under construction. Escaping security and safely reaching the top required a meticulous, intricate plan that the pair came up with while working through interpersonal issues. (At the time of the climb, the building’s owners said police were investigating the pair for trespassing, but Malaysian authorities did not respond to CNN about whether further legal action had been taken.)
Provided by: Netflix
“Skywalkers” mixes footage of the couple themselves with original footage from the film’s staff.
Provided by: Netflix
Nicolaou was trained as a gymnast and excelled in acrobatics as a rooftopper.
Rooftopping is a controversial pastime due to its dangers and the fact that participants resort to trespass. This urban “sport” has emerged as an extreme way to get likes on social media, leading to some Miserable The deaths continued.
For “The Rise of Skywalker,” a film crew accompanied Behrens and Nikolaou to film their stunts, but only to a limited extent, and Zimbalist emphasized the team’s safety measures designed to ensure the crew didn’t endanger or interfere with the couple.
“We had many conversations with Ivan and Angela and said, ‘Don’t try anything more outrageous than you normally do,'” Zimbalist said. “For us, this isn’t a movie about whether or not we succeed in climbing Independence Monument or anything else. The real suspense here is whether or not we choose to trust each other.”
“Expanded states of mind”
For the pair, rooftop climbing isn’t just a thrill-seeking pursuit: Nikolaou, the daughter of a circus performer, says in the film that pushing herself to the limits has been instilled in her since childhood, and that she is always striving to improve herself. For Beerkus, who spent years climbing buildings alone in Moscow, rooftop climbing gives her mental clarity.
“The higher I climbed, the easier it was to breathe,” he tells the camera, recalling his first climb. “This life on the edge, this expanded state of mind, is essential to me.”
Zimbalist acknowledges the danger of rooftop attacks and says his film is not about “defending their actions from critics.”
Provided by: Netflix
Throughout the film, the couple emphasize that their motivations are more complicated than mere thrill-seeking.
Instead, he hopes Skywalkers will offer messages of love and trust, as well as a rare glimpse into the hard work and planning behind rooftop dwellers’ “polished” social media posts.
“Any dangerous activity can often be masked on social media,” he says. “Telling the stories behind the stunts gives context and shows how difficult and dangerous these activities are.”
Provided by: Netflix
Nicolaou said he has had to continually overcome his fear of heights.
Believe it or not, Nicolaou claims to be afraid of heights, something she has had to confront on multiple occasions in order to pursue her chosen career.
“The fear hasn’t gone away, I just got better at facing it,” she explains in one video.
So while the makers of The Rise of Skywalker probably hope you don’t climb your local skyscraper, the movie encourages you to be brave and say “yes” to the things that scares you the most.
“Skywalker Love Story” is available on Netflix
clock: “Free Solo (2018)
If you’d rather see daring cliff-side feats than skyscrapers, this Academy Award-winning documentary from filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi and photographer/climber Jimmy Chin is a must-see for anyone looking to see the best of Yosemite. very He climbed El Capitan, a 3,000-foot vertical rock mountain, without ropes or harnesses.
read: “Extreme Like a Girl (2021)
Photographer Carolina Amel brings together images and personal stories of women in extreme sports – wingsuit pilots, parkour athletes, slackliners and more – who are not only pushing themselves to the limit but also breaking barriers in male-dominated fields.
listen: “What Your Mother Didn’t Teach You: Women Who Climb Mountains (2022)
In this episode of the podcast, we delve into the lesser known history of female mountaineers, from Félicité Carrel, the first woman to attempt to summit the Matterhorn, to Miriam O’Brien, who coined the term “unmanned climbing” in the early 20th century and completed some of the world’s most difficult climbs.
clock: “People in Motion (2012)
This documentary about parkour at the height of its popularity follows five people who take up the sport for different reasons, and is filmed in true slow motion to capture every nuance and spectacle of their movements.
